MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT 


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OF 


GEORGETOWN  COLLEGE, 


VHE  l.l*KAKV  Of  Wt 

9 - 19^^— 

UHIVERSITY  OF  lUlNO.S 


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^ f ( •'*'  Y' 

X_  - 


VALEDICTORY 


8IL^S  L . L O O lyi:  I S , 3VC  . 3D., 


I’ROFKSSOU  OF  CHOIISTRY  AND  TOXICOLOGY'. 


WASHINGTON,  D . C . : 

MoGILL  A YMTHEROW,  PRINTERS  AND  STEREOTYPERS. 

1865. 


FIFTEENTH  ANNUAL  COMMENCEMENT 


I HE  LIHKAKY  Of  THE 

[viAY  9 - 1341 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


MEDICAL  DEPAETMENT 


GEORGETOWN  COLLEGE. 


VALEDICTORY  ADDRESS 

BY  SILAS  L.  LOOMIS,  M.  D., 

PEOFESSOE  OF  CHEMISTEY  AND  TOXICOLOGY, 

DVC^IE^OH:  2,  18S5. 


WASHINGTON,  H.  C. : 

McGill  & witherow,  printers  and  stereotypers. 
1865. 


Washington,  D.  C.,  March  2,  1865. 


Sir  : The  students  of  the  Medical  Department  of  Georgetown  College,  as  an 
evidence  of  their  appreciation  of  your  Valedijctory  Address  delivered  this  day, 
respectfully  solicit,  through  their  Committee,  a copy  for  publication. 

Very  respectfully, 

FRANK  S.  WALSH, 

SAMUEL  A.  AMERY, 

JOHN  C.  WATKINS, 

J.  FRAZER  BOUGHTER, 
JOS.  H.  HORNOR, 

R.  HOWARD, 


Silas  L.  Loomis,  M.  D., 

Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Toxicology . 


Committee. 


^ Washington,  D.  C.,  March  2,  1865. 

Gentlemen  : The  copy  of  my  Address  which  you  request  for  publication  is 
at  your  disposal. 

Allow  me  to  acknowledge  the  compliment  conferred. 

SILAS  L.  LOOMIS. 

Messrs.  Walsh,  Amery,  Watkins,  Boughter,  Hornor,  and  Howard, 

Committee  of  the  Class. 


I 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Class  of  1865 : 

Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  that  the  studies  introductory 
to  professional  life  are  now  closed.  The  day  so  long  anti-  ^ 
cipated,  when  you  are  to  enter  the  Medical  Profession,  is 
now  enjoyed.  Pays,  weeks,  months,  and  long  years  of 
weary  labor  are  now  yielding  their  fruit.  The  required  cur- 
riculum of  studies  has  been  passed  ; the  courses  of  lectures 
attended  ; your  Theses  written,  and  the  final  ballot  has  an- 
nounced your  success. 

The  honors  of  Georgetown  College — honors  not  lightly 
won — are  now  conferred  upon  you.  The  parchment  attest- 
ing these  facts,  bearing  the  broad  seal  of  the  College  by 
authority  of  the  United  States,  and  constituting  you  mem- 
bers of  the  Medical  Profession,  is  this  day  placed  in  your 
hands.  With  this  diploma  is  committed  also  to  your  care 
the  reputation  of  the  professors  under  whom  you  have 
studied,  the  honor  of  the  college  which  now  authorizes 
your  graduation,  and  the  confidence  of  those  who  are  inter- 
ested in  your  success.  Let  your  professional  ability  and 
integrity  command  the  attention,  the  respect,  and  the  esteem 
of  your  associates ; your  studious  habits  and  scholarly 
attainments  add  lustre  to  the  reputation  of  your  Alma 
Mater,  and  the  purity  of  your  private  life  be  worthy  of  imi- 
tation. 

The  responsibilities  of  the  position  which  you  now  assume 
should  be  well  studied.  The  most  endearing  and  tenderest 
relations  of  social  and  domestic  life  may  be  sundered  by 
your  ignorance  or  carelessness,  mantling  a whole  commu- 
nity with  sorrow  and  grief ; or  by  your  skill  and  judgment 
a life  held  by  the  feeblest  tenure  may  be  prolonged  for  years, 
blessing  the  family,  the  friends,  the  community,  and  the 
nation.  To  you  is  entrusted  the  duty  of  assisting  the  strug- 
gling efforts  of  nature,  as  the  unfolding  germ  fully  assumes 


4 


its  vital  functions  ; you  are  authorized,  with  anesthesia,  and 
probe,  and  scalpel,  to  expose  and  examine  the  most  vital  parts 
of  vigorous  manhood  ; and  you  are  required  to  nurse  the 
flickering  dame  of  life  as  it  burns  low  in  its  worn  socket.  Let 
gentleness,  tenderness,  and  all  the  delicacy  of  your  nature 
he  exhibited  when  called  to  the  bedside  in  the  former  case  ; 
let  courage,  fortitude,  energy,  decision,  and  will  control, 
while  the  knife,  bathed  in  life’s  warm  current,  is  severing 
- the  living  fibre  ; and  let  kind  words,  sympathy,  and  conso- 
lation be  freely  given  to  those  who,  having  passed  a long 
journey  of  trouble,  and  care,  and  perplexity,  are  gradually 
losing  their  hold  on  life,  and  drawing  near  to  the  hour  which 
shall  release  them  from  their  bed  of  suffering. 

hTothing  after  spiritual  aid  and  support  can  so  illumine  the 
dark  and  shadowy  valley  of  death  as  the  kindly  care  of  a 
physician,  who,  though  he  knows  all  his  efforts  are  una- 
vailing, still  perseveres  till  the  inexorable  conqueror  claims 
its  victim. 

Homines  ad  deos  nulla  re  proprius  acceduni  qtiam  salutem 
homnibus  dando.'' 

Men  in  no  way  resemble  the  gods  more  closely  than  in 
giving  health  to  their  fellow-men.” 

But  let  us  examine  more  particularly  the  position  which 
the  Medical  Profession  of  this  age  occupy. 

With  the  past  we  have  little  to  do.  Such  have  been  the 
advances  in  the  analytical  and  experimental  sciences,  such 
the  increase  of  knowledge  concerning  the  human  constitu- 
tion and  the  nature  of  remedial  action,  that  whatever  may 
have  been  the  practice  of  medicine  in  earlier  times,  or  even 
down  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  has  lost  its 
primal  value  and  become  of  no  essential  interest  to  us. 

The  processes  of  investigation  followed  by  the  ancient 
philosophers,  being  based  on  false  premises,  necessarily  gave 
erroneous  results.  The  general  constitution  of  matter  in 
its  grossest  condition,  to  say  nothing  of  its  more  occult 
forms,  properties,  and  forces,  were  then  wholly  unknown. 
Matter,  when  it  disappears  to  the  vision,  was  thought  to  be 
destroyed,  and  growth  was  creation.  The  gods  had  charge  of 
things  terrestrial  as  well  as  celestial,  and  all  phenomena 
not  readily  explained  by  some  theory  were  referred  to  the 


5 


agency  of  these  higher  beings,  as  prompted  by  either  kind  or 
malevolent  sentiments  toward  man.  And  thus  for  centu- 
ries theories  having  as  little  coherence  as  wreaths  of  smoke 
upturned  each  other  in -frequent  succession.  The  human 
intellect,  after  thus  vaguely  groping  for  ages  in  the  endless 
maze  of  theories,  at  last  discerned,  that  such  efibrts  could 
never  lead  to  any  true  scientific  results ; that  the  study 
of  nature  must  begin  with  the  observation  of  facts;  and 
that  rjeneral  laws'’  could  only  be  ascertained  by  generaliziny 
facts.  Qnder  this,  all  theories  that  could  not  be  sustained 
and  verified  by  experiment  were  set  aside,  and  thus  science 
was  at  once  relieved  of  a vast  amount  of  the  so-called 
learned  accumulations  of  ages.  Francis  Bacon  thus  became 
the  great  instaurator  of  sciejice. 

From  this  enunciation  of  Bacon  followed  a great  transi- 
tion from  what  might  be  called  the  theoretical  or  specu- 
lative period  to  the  experimental.  Every  theory  w^as  now 
tested  by  the  crucible  and  the  balance,  and  this  led  to  a 
fundamental  law,  ^^tkat  ponderable  matter  was  indestructible^ 
and  had  neither  been  increased  nor  diminished  since  creation." 

Under  this  law,  whenever  matter  disappeared  by  combus- 
tion, eremacausis,  or  by  any  other  cause,  its  loss  must  be  ac- 
counted for.  The  change  manifest  was  merely  that  of  its 
form,  and  the  new  condition  must  contain  precisely  all  that 
had  disappeared  from  the  old  form.  Thus  the  balance  of 
Lavoisier  became  the  means  of  correct  analyses  of  pondera- 
ble material. 

These  rigid  and  inexorable  processes  of  investigation  soon 
changed  the  whole  aspect  of  the  sciences,  and  by  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  scarcely  a single  link 
connecting  us  with  the  past.  Astrology  had  become  as- 
tronomy ; alchemy,  chemistry  ; and  vague  imaginative  the- 
ories had  given  place  to  general  laws  based  on  the  immutable 
logic  of  well -attested  fact.  Patient,  thorough,  indefatigable 
investigators  interrogated  nature  in  every  part  of  her  far- 
reaching  domain  and  made  record  of  her  responses.  Accu- 
rate observers,  with  new  and  improved  appliances,  all 
brought  to  the  common  treasury  the  results  of  their  exami- 
nations, till,  at  length,  from  these  began  to  unfold  the  grand 


6 


and  beautiful  laws  under  which  all  material,  inorganic  and 
organic,  has  its  being. 

While  the  scientists  of  the  age  were  thus  marking  out  the 
great  foundations  on  which  the  future  should  build,  they 
were  as  silently  and  unobservedly  undermining  the  spiritual 
philosophy  of  the  past.  Whole  classes  of  phenomena 
which  but  a few  years  before  had  been  attributed  to  the 
special  agency  of  certain  divinities,,  evil  as  well  as  good,  were 
now  well  understood.  What  could  be  well  explained  by 
the  facts  of  science  had  little  need  of  divine  aid. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  during  this  second  or  experi- 
mental period,  science  was  based  on  the  doctrine  of  the  m- 
destructihility  of  'ponderable  material  and  on  the  supposed 
unlimited,  indefinite  amount  of  force  acting  in  various  forms 
upon  and  within  it.  Force  held  the  same  position  in  this 
period  as  ponderable  matter  had  in  the  speculative  age,  it 
being  supposed  to  be  capable  of  creation  or  annihilation  at  will. 

Whenever  a force  ceased  to  act  in  a particular  direction 
it  was  believed  to  be  destroyed  In  fact,  all  ideas  in  regard 
to  force  were  exceedingly  vague  and  indefinite.  Its  true 
nature  was  not  known.  It  was  considered  beyond  our  reach, 
and  those  who  attempted  to  examine  it  were  ridiculed  as 
speculative,  unpractical,  and  visionary  men,  not  entitled  to 
the  rank  of  the  learned  and  the  sagacious. 

As  careful  and  accurate  investigations  of  ponderable  mat- 
ter were  pushed  forward,  certain  exceptional  phenomena 
presented  themselves,  which  could  not  be  explained.  This 
class  of  phenomena  accumulated  to  such  a degree  that  the 
scientists  of  the  age  were  compelled  to  direct  their  attention 
more  especially  to  the  imponderable  agents,  as  they  were 
called,  commonly  known  as  heat,  light,  electricity,  magnet- 
ism, and  vital  force. 

The  investigation  of  heat,  as  one  result,  gave  the  various 
applications  of  steam  ; the  study  of  light  gave  us  the  va- 
rious branches  of  photography  ; the  study  of  electricity  re 
suited  in  the  electrotype,  and  magnetism  gave  us  the  tele- 
graph. 

The  study  of  vital  force  has  not  been  fruitful  of  results, 
from  the  fact  that  it  has  barely  commenced. 


7 


And  precisely  as  it  was  in  the  speculative  age,  there  is  a 
class  of  phenomena  arising  from  some  or  all  of  these /orce5, 
jprinei'pally  from  vitality^  which  is  not  yet  explained  or  under- 
stood. It  is  not  assuming  too  much  to  say  that  the  most 
important  results  are  to  follow  these  investigations  of 
imponderable  material  or  force.  At  the  present  time  we  can 
have  no  correct  idea  of  the  vast  changes  in  social,  civil,  in- 
tellectual, and  moral  life  which  these  researches  in  science 
must  iii'Cvitably  produce. 

The  greatest  realm  of  human  capabilities  remains  yet  un- 
explored. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  the  great  law  of  matter, 
that  force  is  indestructible  and  convertible,  ‘‘constitutes  the  most 
important  discovery  of  the  present  century.” 

It  compels  scientists  to  review  all  their  previous  inves- 
tigations, and  essentially  modifies  their  views  of  the  “general 
constitution  of  matter.” 

Having  thus  sketched  the  position  of  science  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  on  which  our  whole  system  of  medicine  must  rest, 
our  inquiry  now  is  plain,  definite,  and  pointed,  viz  : What 
have  medical  men  to  do  in  the  premises  ? 

This  question  is  readily  answered. 

The  medical  profession  is  ready  at  all  times  to  ad- 
vance with  the  scientists  of  the  age,  and  large  numbers 
of  the  most  learned  and  successful  investigators  of  both 
ancient  and  modern  times  have  been  found  in  its  ranks. 

We  are  ready,  the  moment  a new  truth  is  announced  or  a 
new  discovery  made,  to  appropriate  it,  if  possible,  for  the 
benefit  of  man.  In  fact,  every  material  that  has  come  with- 
in the  reach  of  scientific  investigation  has  been  carefully  and 
thoroughly  examined  and  tested  by  the  medical  profession, 
and  such  qualities  and  properties  as  could  be  made  available 
for  use  have  been  seized  upon  as  remedial  agents;  and  as 
new  discoveries  are  daily  made,  “ The  School  of  Medicine  ” 
is  constantly  advancing.  It  has  kept  pace  with  the  vast 
strides  that  science  has  made  in  the  last  few  years,  and  will 
continue  to  advance  as  a necessity  of  its  existence. 

I say  “ The  School  of  Medicine,”  from  the  fact  that  there 
is  no  other  school  of  medicine. 


8 


Without  descending  to  notice  the  claims  of  all  or  any  of 
the  pretended  schools  of  medicine,  their  place  will  he  readily 
seen  when  we  properly  appreciate  the  position  which  the 

Old  School  of  Medicine  ” has  ever  held. 

The  ‘‘  Old  School  of  Medicine  ” includes  the  educated 
men  of  every  age  ; men  whose  studies  ceased  only  when  life 
ended  ;■  active,  energetic,  persevering  men;  bringing  their 
profession  up  to  their  own  time,  and  pushing  their  investi- 
gations into  the  future  for  the  benefit  of  the  race  ;*  philan- 
thropic, self-sacrificing  and  devoted ; enduring  famine  and 
facing  unflinchingly  all  the  hideous  forms  of  pestilence  ; — 
men  of  honor,  of  integrity,  of  worth,  esteemed,  revered,  and 
loved.  Such  men  the  School  of  Medicine  claims  by  thou- 
sands in  everj^  age. 

The  Old  School  of  Medicine  includes  all  of  the  elements 
of  growth  and  expansion.  It  is  based  on  the  immutable 
logic  of  facts,  not  of  theories,  and  every  newly  discovered  fact 
is  its  legitimate  property.  It  must,  therefore,  expand  in 
every  direction  wherever  investigation  reaches,  and  when- 
ever a new  law  is  deduced  the  medical  profession  is  among 
the  first  to  test  its  worth. 

• The  Old  School  of  Medicine  contains  in  its  archives  the 
scientific  record  of  the  past.  It  has  taken  ages  to  gather  up 
the  present  practice  of  medicine,  and  the  recorded  observa- 
tions of  the  ablest  men  the  world  has  produced  are  invalua- 
ble for  all  time.  They  cannot  be  set  aside. 

The  Old  School  pursues  that  happy  medium  which  has 
ever  been  acknowledged  as  productive  of  the  highest  bene- 
fits to  the  human  race. 

It  does  not  propose  to  cure  everything  by  electricity. 

It  does  not  propose  to  do  the  same  by  the  means  of  water. 

It  does  not  propose  to  cure  all  the  “ ills  that  flesh  is  heir 
to  ” by  infinitesimal  doses. 

It  does  not  propose  to  cure  by  taps,  moves,  and  passes. 

Neither  does  it  propose  to  secure  the  services  of  disem- 
bodied spirits. 

Nor  does  it  propose  to  use  any  one  method  or  material  as 
its  main  reliance. 

But  it  does  propose,  by  a careful  and  thorough  knowledge 


9 


of  all  material,  to  select  from  its  extensive  list  of  remedial 
agents  such  as  are  indicated  by  the  pathological  condition  of 
the  patient,  and  by  their  judicious  application  assist  nature 
in  the  restoration  of  health. 

The  importance  of  your  position  as  a member  ot‘  this  pro- 
fession is  equally  seen  when  we  look  at  the  object  of  your 
professional  skill  and  attention. 

We  find  matter  in  its  lowest  or  elementary  form  endowed 
with  certain  properties.  As  it  increases  in  complexity,  we 
find  more  and  more  force  atoms  in  proportion  to  the  gross 
matter.  Continuing  to  ascend  in  the  scale  of  existence,  we 
find  certain  complex  atoms  exhibiting  new  properties,  espe- 
cially that  of  reproducing  itself,  and  this  new  power  is  called 
vegetative  life. 

This  new  class  of  organic  bodies  may  exhibit  all  the  prop- 
erties which  are  attached  to  inorganic  material,  and,  in  addi- 
tion thereto,  a power  not  found  in  inorganic  material,  by 
which  all  vegetable  substances  are  built  up  after  certain  types. 
It  seems  to  be  the  peculiar  province  of  vegetable  life  to 
build  up  material  from  inorganic  sources  preparatory  to 
its  being  used  in  a higher  plane  of  existence,  and,  in  doing 
this,  the  process  consists  chiefiy  in  attaching  to  gross  matter 
a much  greater  amount  of  force  than  it  possesses  in  its  inor- 
ganic condition.  Matter  is  elevated  to  a higher  plane  of  ex- 
istence in  passing  from  the  inorganic  to  the  vegetable  world. 

On  the  next  plane,  that  of  animated  existence,  we  find  an 
entire  new  development,  commonly  called  vital  force  or  life, 
and  this,  as  in  the  case  of  vegetable,  is  an  added  power. 
Animated  existences  may  exhibit  an}^  one  or  all  of  these 
properties  of  matter,  viz  : chemical  force,  heat,  light,  elec- 
tricity, magnetism,  motion,  and  vegetative  force,  and,  in 
addition  thereto,  vital  force  or  life. 

It  seems  to  be  the  special  province  of  this  vital  power  to 
elevate  and  sustain,  temporarily,  a portion  of  vegetable  mate- 
rial to  the  plane  of  animated  existence  by  concentrating  all  the 
forces  of  a given  amount  of  material  on  the  specific  portion 
to  be  elevated,  thereby  depriving  the  balance  of  its  accumu- 
lated force,  or,  in  other  words,  letting  it  down  to  its  inorganic 
condition. 

2 


10 


We  thus  fiud  two  plaues  of  organic  existence  below  man, 
and  from  which  he  draws  all  the  material  of  growth  and 
development,  and  when  it  is  remembered  that  food  for 
human  existence  consists,  necessaril}^,  of  force  and  ponder- 
able material,  we  find  a remarkable  difference  in  the  supplies 
of  nutrimetit  obtained  from  those  two  sources,  viz  : that  all 
the  vegetable  organisms  decay  or  go  back  to  the  first  or 
elemental  plane  of  existence  much  more  slowly  than  do  the 
animal,  and  hence  the  su'pply  of  life  from  vegetable  pro- 
ductions must  be  quite  feeble  compared  with  that  obtained 
from  the  rapid  decay  of  animated  existence. 

The  great  mass  of  vegetation  is,  therefore,  not  suitable  for 
the  nutriment  of  man.  In  fact,  almost  all  food  from  the  vege- 
table world  adapted  to  the  nature  of  man  is  confined  to  seeds 
and  fruits.  These  are  constituted  under  such  laws  as  to  facili- 
tate their  decomposition  and  induce  a rapid  return  to  the  ele- 
mental form,  for  the  purpose  of  yielding  the  necessary  force 
for  germination. 

It  is  also  a well-known  fact  that  the  forces  bound  up  in 
seeds  and  fruits  are  in  much  greater  proportion  to  the  gross 
matter  than  in  any  other  part  of  vegetable  organizations, 
and  therefore  approach  much  nearer  to  animated  existence, 
in  this  respect,  than,  any  other  form  of  matter. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  the  great  mass  of  animated 
existence  is  adapted  to  the  sustenance  of  man,  it  is  a well 
ascertained  fact  that  meats  contain  more  force  than  any 
other  material,  and  hence  when  they  break  down,  by  diges- 
tion or  any  other  process,  it  is  with  rapidity  and  with  the 
liberation  of  a great  amount  of  force. 

The  question  of  nutrition  has  been  hitherto  investigated 
only  so  far  as  ponderable  material  is  concerned,  and  so  far 
as  determinations  could  be  verified  by  weight.  From  these 
data  we  find  that  about  30  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  man  is 
obtained  from  the  animated  plane  of  existence,  and  the  resi- 
due, 70  per  cent.,  from  the  vegetable. 

But  the  question  of  nutrition  cannot  be  determined  by 
weight  alone.  Force  is  requisite  as  well  as  gross  material,  and 
the  problem  now  to  be  solved  is  to  determine  the  amount  of 


11 


force  in  each  article  of  diet  and  its  adaptation  to  the  assimilating 
processes  of  the  human  system. 

We  have  not  only  the  histogenetic  and  calorifacient  pro- 
ducts of  digestion,  but  in  the  breaking  down  of  all  that  ma- 
terial in  the  prima  via,  which  can  never  be  taken  up  by  the 
system,  we  have  a constant  liberation  of  force,  which  is  assimi- 
lated under  some  of  the  various  forms  of  vitality,  and  is  as  essential 
to  the  development  of  the  organism  as  chyle. 

Again  reverting  to  the  gradual  development  of  matter, 
we  find  that  whenever  the  quantity  of  force  increases  more 
rapidly  than  the  gross  material  in  the  constitution  of  a body 
it  is  elevated  in  the  scale  of  existence;  that  the  elevation 
of  the  vegetable  plane  is  solel}^  dependent  on  its  accumu- 
lated constituent  forces ; and  that  the  higher  elevation  of 
seeds  and  fruits,  constituting  them  food  for  man,  is  due  to 
the  increased  force  wrapped  up  in  their  constitution  ; that 
from  this  same  cause  animated  existences  rank  far  above 
the  vegetable  plane,  thereby  constituting  them  almost  ex- 
clusively the  required  food  for  man.  Now,  these  facts, 
together  with  the  fact  that  man  only  uses  for  food  seeds, 
fruits,  and  meats,  substances  containing  the  greatest  con- 
centration of  imponderable  material  which  may  be  readily 
and  steadily  developed  by  digestion,  form  a sufficient  basis 
for  a reasonable  expectation  that  a higher  form  of  force  will 
be  developed  by  the  human  being  than  has  been  exhibited 
by  any  other  organization. 

And  more : knowing  that  man  assimilates  in  his  growth 
and  functional  activity  only  the  highest  projections  of  vege- 
table and  animal  existences,  thereby  wrapping  within  his 
constitution  the  highest  and  tensest  forces  of  nature,  we  are 
unavoidably  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  man  must  develop 
force  in  some  of  its  more  elevated  conditions. 

The  organization  of  animals  of  the  lower  order  will  not 
answer  these  new  demands.  This  intense  concentration  of 
power  must  beget  new  modes,  new  energies,  new  exhibitions 
in  some  form.  Hence  we  find  in  man  entire  classes  of  pow- 
ers beyond  those  of  any  other  terrestrial  being.  Hence  the 
grand  reaches  of  intellect,  of  memory,  and  of  imagination. 
He  walks  up  and  down  the  universe,  amid  the  stars,  and 


12 


back  through  the  darkness  toward  the  beginning.  He  puts 
all  but  the  living  spirit  on  the  canvas,  or  creates  it  from  the 
mai'ble.  He  possesses  the  requisites  for  receiving  and  de- 
veloping powers  that  carry  him  over  every  part  of  the  globe 
on  which  he  lives,  and  makes  every  particle  of  its  matter  and 
every  living  being  that  abides  upon  it,  subservient  to  his  will. 

Man,  presented  in  this  view,  is  truly  “fearfully  and  won- 
derfully made.”  But  'how  expressive  these  terms  become 
when  we  look  at  him  in  the  inlinite  variety  of  pathological 
conditions  whicli  may  be  presented  ! 

And  especially  to  you  will  he  become  an  object  of  intense 
interest  when,  compelled  by  disease,  he  turns,  in  pain  and 
anguish,  but  with  confidence  in  your  ability  to  relieve,  and 
implores  your  services.  You  will  then  fully  appreciate  the 
responsibility  resting  upon  you  which,  before  this  public  au- 
dience, you  have  expressed  your  readiness  to  assume. 

You  have  placed  within  your  reach  all  that  science,  in  its 
most  exalted  conditions,  has  attained  to.  You  have,  in  the 
medical  works  and  journals  of  the  present  day,  all  the  accu- 
mulated surgical,  medical,  and  therapeutical  knowledge  that 
the  ablest  men  have  been  enabled  to  gather  up.  And  more: 
you  now  take  your  place  in  the  medical  profession,  and  it 
demands  at  your  hands  some  increment  of  progress. 

Language  fails  to  express  the  opprobrium  and  contempt 
wliich  should  Ibllow  every  man  who  presumes  to  take  in 
charge  the  health  and  lives  of  his  fellow- men  when  he  is 
indifierently  prepared  for  his  position. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  there  are  one  or  two  points  not 
strictly  within  the  limits  of  professional  life,  that  neverthe- 
less exercise  so  important  an  influence  upon  the  success  and 
reputation  of  the  young  candidate  for  public  favor  as  to 
merit  a few  closing  words. 

In  a country  established  upon  the  suftrages  of  the  people, 
every  intelligent  citizen  must  charge  himself  with  a knowl- 
edge of  the  public  weal.  He  is  inexcusable  in  leaving  it  to 
others.  But  there  is  a broad  line  of  distinction  between  the 
patriot  and  the  politician,  which  a servant  of  the  public  must 
never  forget,  and  over  which  the  eminent  in  science  seldom 
step.  The  physician  that  locates  himself  in  the  midst  of  a 


13 


quiet,  peace-loving  community,  stands  as  a minister  of  health 
to  all  its  members.  What  their  personal  opinions  and  cir- 
cumstances may  be  are  naught  to  him.  Nor  should  his  opin- 
ions be  aught  to  them.  It  is  often  claimed  that  the  pln^si- 
cian  ought,  like  the  clergyman,  to  be  a reformer,  and  the 
more  impetuous  and  unreflecting  sometimes  impugn  the 
motives  and  question  the  character  of  the  physician  who 
wisely  regards  himself,  as  to  a large  extent,  the  common  pro- 
perty of  all  those  who  have  made  him  welcome  to  their 
neighborhood.  He  is  the  one  to  whom  all  eyes  turn  in 
hours  of  distress.  He,  who  is  to  stand  as  the  minister  of 
consolation  to  the  sick  man,  should  be  no  violent  opponent, 
no  bitter  antagonist,  bearing  in  his  bosom  the  pent  hatred 
of  fierce  and  unscrupulous  campaigns.  He  should  come 
with  a reputation  for  candor  and  self-possession  that  will 
assure  every  one  who  may  need  his  care,  of  his  sympathy 
and  kind  feeling. 

You  must  never  forget  that  the  moment  this  frail  tene- 
ment yields  to  disease  the  mind  suffers  alike  with  it.  Every 
patient  you  may  visit  should  welcome  you  as  a friend,  either 
from  the  sentiment  of  friendship  arising  from  what  may  be 
seen  of  your  worth  or  from  what  has  been  heard.  How  im- 
possible it  will  be  for  you  to  do  this  if  you  have  made  yourself 
a violent  partisan,  even  in  a good  cause,  I need  hardly  remark. 

And  if  these  general  principles  should  be  observed  with 
respect  to  social  and  political  questions,  it  will  readily  be 
inferred  they  must  apply  with  still  greater  force  to  questions 
of  a religious  nature.  It  may  be  supposed  that  every  intel- 
ligent individual  has  some  well-formed  notions  as  to  his  re- 
ligious obligations  ; and  these,  whatever  they  may  be,  are 
often  deemed  by  him  as  among  the  most  important  of  all  his 
earthly  possessions.  With  these  the  physician,  in  the  hour 
when  the  patient  can  least  afford  to  meet  any  disturbing 
cause,  is  peculiarly  liable  to  come  in  contact.  How  unfitted 
to  such  an  hour  and  responsibilities  is  one  whose  heart  is 
filled  with  narrow  bigotry  and  sectarian  intolerance.  With 
calm  serenity,  with  hopeful  trust,  ought  he  to  lead  along  the 
margin  of  life  those  who  have  trusted  him  as  their  best, 
truest  friend.  While  it  may  be  the  high  privilege  of  the 


14 


physician,  at  such  an  hour,  when  he  sees  that  hope  has  fled, 
and  that  but  a few  more  grains  of  sand  are  yet  to  drop  in 
the  hour-glass  of  life,  to  bid  the  sufferer  look  above,  to  put 
his  trust  in  a higher  power,  and  bid  adieu  to  earth,  it  is  nei- 
ther the  time  nor  the  occasion,  nor  is  it  the  prerogative  of 
the  physician,  to  disturb  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  dy- 
ing man  by  endeavoring  to  impress  convictions  which  he 
may  believe  to  be  better  and  truer.  This  is  not  his  province. 
It  has  been  wisely  placed  in  other  hands.  It  is  his  to  afford 
consolation,  from  whatever  source  it  may  be  drawn,  but  not 
his  to  attempt  instruction. 

And,  lastly,  to  no  one  in  the  whole  community  is  there 
confided  so  much  of  life,  reputation,  and  character  as,  from 
the  necessities  of  the  case,  there  is  and  must  be  to  the  phy- 
sician. From  him  there  can  be  no  concealments.  What- 
ever man  may  keep  in  his  own  heart,  untold  to  friend  or 
confessor,  must  oft  times  be  confided  to  the  physician.  The 
happiness,  the  good  name  of  individuals  andfamilies — all  that 
is  dear  in  social  life  is  often  confided  to  his  keeping.  They 
will  confide  in  you  because  of  your  profession,  and  because 
you  have  been  deemed  worthy  to  assume  its  responsibilities. 

You  must  never  forget,  under  however  pressing  circum- 
stances, what  has  been  so  placed  under  the  guardianship  of 
your  sacred  honor.  You  may  be  importuned  by  friends, 
and  waylaid  by  enemies,  but  whatever  the  appeal  or  the 
proflered  advantage,  you  must  ever  remember  that  to  the 
high-minded  and  upright,  there  can  be  no  departure  from 
this  rule  of  the  profession  without  dishonor. 

In  conferring  these  diplomas,  the  College  relies  upon  your 
elevated  sense  of  honor  and  integrity  for  the  high  and  unim- 
peachable discharge  of  these  responsible  trusts.  You  are  not 
charged  with  the  supervision  of  the  mode  of  life  men  lead, 
but  with  the  solemn  duty  of  restoring  health  whenever  it 
lies  in  your  power. 

As  in  the  earlier  times  the  art  of  healing  was  believed  to 
be  divine,  so  in  these  Christian  times  you  are  to  dispense 
your  benefactions  even  as  the  common  Father  of  us  all, 
sending  His  blessings  upon  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  His 
rain  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust. 


MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT 


OF 

GEORGETOWN  COLLEGE. 

FIFTEENTH  ANNUAL  COUESE,  1864— ’65. 


The  number  of  matriculant.s  for  the  session  was  84.  At  a public  commencement,  held  in  Ford’s 
Theatre,  10th  street,  on  Thursday,  March  2,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was  conlerred  upon 
the  following  : 


Adams,  E.  A 

Fitting,  Louis  C 

Boswell,  E.  V.  B 

Brooks,  J.  Henry 

Brownlow,  J.  H 

Collins,  William  T.....'. 
Cumniings,  George  W.. 

Dulin,  Edgar  A 

Duvall,  William  T.  S.. 
France,  J . M.  Duncan. 

Haven,  Charles  L 

Harroun,  W.  S 

Husselton,  William  S. 

Hyatt,  P.  F 

Munger,  M.  J 

Rex,  Thomas  A 

Steinmetz’,  William  R. 

Tibbals,  W.  F 

Wiggin,  Augustus  W.. 
Wood,  George  F 


D.  C Variola. 

Penna Gunshot  wounds. 

Md Nervous  Sedatives. 

“ Morbus  Coxarius. 

Canada ...  Strychnia. 

Minn Primary  Amputations. 

“ Miasmata  and  their  consequences. 

D.  C Typhoid. 

“ Rheumatism. 

“ Menstruation. 

Maine Diagno.sis. 

Mich Pyaemia. 

Penna Continued  Fever — Typhoid  t3"pe. 

“•  Malignant  or  Spotted  Fever. 

N.  Y Typhoid  Fever. 

Penna Some  of  the  Salts  of  Iron. 

Pi’ussia....  Scorbutus. 

Ohio Collitis. 

N.  11 Excision  of  Joints. 

Mass Pyaemia. 

JUNIORS. 


Amery,  Samuel  A.... 

Abel,  J.  W 

Alexander,  W.  0 

Barnes,  .Joseph  D 

Bell,  Ralph 

Behrend,  Adaja 

Bond,  Samuel  S 

Boughter,  J.  Frazer.. 

Brown,  C.  F 

Brown,  W.  R 

Buck,  L.  A 

Burchard,  W.  M 

Caldwell,  George  H.., 

Carey,  George 

Choat,  Rufus 

Cooper,  L.  E 

Dooly,  Frank 

Dorr,  L.  L 

Duckett,  W.  G 

Dunning,  Czar 

Downing,  J.  W 

Eastman,  Joseph  A.. 

Free,  C.  W 

French,  Charles  P 

Fuller,  George  E 

Hale,  William 

Henry,  J.  N 

Hornor,  Joseph  H.... 

Howard,  Robert 

Huntington,  J.  L.  W, 
Johnson,  Joseph  T.... 
Jones,  E.  S 


Md.  Julihn,  M.  L 

Penna.  Kearnej',  R.  F 

D.  C.  Lee,  Chapman 

Penna.  I.,ewis,  A 

D.  C.  ULMarble,  John  0 

N.  Y.  Moore,  John 

Penna.  Morrill,  C.  P 

“ Miller,  John  S 

Conn.  Nicodemus,  W.  J.  S. 

D.  C.  Norcross,  George  J.. 

“ Orton,  D.  S 

Conn.  Parkhurst,  C.  B , 

Mass.  Pickett,  G.  H 

Maine.  Ragan,  G.  T 

D.  C.  Ranterburg,  L.  E..., 

“ Royse,  Chase 

“ Southron,  T.  J 

Mass.  Tonnor,  George 

D.  C.  Thompson,  G.  S 

N.  Y.  Trott,  Thomas  H.... 

Vaughan,  W.  E 

N.  J.  Wilmarth,  Frank.... 

D.  C.  Walsh,  Frank  S 

Mass.  Ward,  S.  R 

“ Ware,  Edward 

D.  C.  Watkins,  John  C..., 

“ Wells,  George  R 

N.  J.  Winants,  J.  C 

D.  C.  Wise,  Thomas 

Conn.  White,  Columbus.... 

Mass.  Whitley,  W.  H 

Penna.  Wood,  E.  N 


La. 

D.  C. 


Vt. 

Maine 

N.  J. 

Maine. 

D.  C. 


Conn. 
Cal. 
Ind. 
R.  I. 
N.  Y. 
Md. 
Minn. 
D.  C. 

Minn. 

Mass. 

D.  C. 

N.J. 

Mass. 

111. 

D.  C. 


N.J. 
N.  Y. 


I HE  LIBIWHY  OE  the 


iviAr  d ~ 1941 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

OF 

GEORGETOWN  COLLEGE, 

WA^m]X0T01V  OITY,  13.  c. 

(No.  303  F,  near  12tli  street.) 

sTJiiyciMiEie,  OOTJIS.SE1,  isss. 


NOBLE  YOUNG,  M.  D.,  Peesidest, 

Professor  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine. 

FLODOARDO  HOWARD,  AI.  D.,  Treasurer, 

Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children. 

JOHNSON  ELIOT,  M.  D.,  Dean, 

Professor  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery. 

JAMES  E.  AIORGAN,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics. 

THOAIAS  ANTISELL,  AI.  D., 

Professor  of  Military  Surgery,  Physiology,  and  Hygiene. 

MONTGOMERY  JOHNS,  AI.  D., 

Professor  of  General,  Microscopic,  and  Descriptive  Anatomy. 

SILAS  L.  LOOMIS,  M.  D.,  Professor  'of  Chemistry  and  Toxicology. 
WARWICK  EVANS,  AI.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy. 


The  Session  will  commence  on  the  13th  of  Alarch,  and  terminate  in  July. 


The  fees  for  the  Course  of  Lectures $105  00 

Alatriculation  fee  (paid  only  once) 5 00 

Demonstrator’s  fee 10  00 

Graduation  fee 30  00 

.Single  ticket 15  00 


For  further  information,  address 

JOHNSON  ELIOT,  AI.  D., 

Dean  or  the  Faculty, 

No.  F street,  Washington.,  D.  C. 


